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Super Bowl Strategies to Perfect Winning Advertising Plays

January 30, 2019

The cost of a television spot during Super Bowl 52 was over $5 million. That’s 30 seconds of airtime, and then poof, the commercial is over. It’s an even tougher pill to swallow when you realize the marketing competition on the field. In 2018 marketers spent $408 million for in-game messages. When pre-and post-game programming is included, the total investment rises to $482 million. But new strategies that provide both reach and ROI are available as digital becomes a more accepted medium for both branding and lead generation. We’re now seeing brands do some of the following.

Reach Beyond 30 Seconds

Utilizing digital formats prior to the big event and continuing them after the Super Bowl can generate a much better ROI than relying on the 30 second (or some variation of) TV ad. The massive TV dollars spent during the game are going to be heavily focused on reach. Digital components (which can include Rich Media and Video ads, Facebook, Instagram, and other more socially driven channels) can be more targeted and focused on driving response. This includes site visits to a dealership, filling out a form for a financial brand or actually making a purchase. Reaching beyond that 30 seconds and finding ways to fit into the buyer’s journey before and after the event is going to drive a much better return.

Go Digital Vs. Traditional

We know not all brands can or want to drop $5 million for 30 seconds. Adweek reported that brands could buy 90 Snapchat Discover takeovers (at roughly $62,200 each) that let brands sponsor a publication’s daily edition. Additionally, marketers could buy more than 370 million display video impressions for a $5 million TV spot. With fragmentation across channels and screens, and access to the right digital inventory, you don’t have to buy a live TV spot during the Super Bowl to get noticed and take advantage of a prime time event. There are plenty of opportunities online, before, after and during the game to get in front of plenty of audiences or a more defined group that you’d rather go after.

Use the Super Bowl Platform to Feature Products and Services

Think of the Super Bowl as a stage to get those products and services in front of the right audiences. Digital marketing and its amazing use of data can allow marketers to take advantage of this unique time of year. It allows them to reach people they want, who may have shown intent or interest in specific products or services. Everything from past purchase to real-time intent data can be used to power those Super Bowl-centric campaigns. Consider products that sell in and around the Super Bowl, such as TVs. The NRF reported that 8.6 million new televisions could be sold in the U.S by people upgrading for the game. Other hot ticket items include Beer, Pizza, and NFL apparel/gear. We’ve also seen an uptick across the auto category — In fact, during the 2017 Super Bowl Google reported that on average, websites saw 4x their usual traffic.

An estimated total amount of 15.3B was spent by consumers in the U.S. on Super Bowl related purchases in 2018. These purchases include, for example, foods and beverages, game-related merchandise, other apparel, decorations and televisions.

The marketing attraction for the Super Bowl has by and large been it’s massive reach. More than 100 million viewers tune in to watch this event every year. While this event still garners massive reach (generating lots of awareness), digital advertising offers a different form of reach. It is more targeted, and a bit more diversified across different channels and formats.